Major
Chemistry
Anticipated Graduation Year
2025
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, and therefore there is an urgent need to discover novel antibiotics targeting alternate pathways. This project studies inhibitors of dizinc metalloenzyme acetylornithine deacetylase (ArgE), an enzyme found in the arginine biosynthesis pathway of bacteria. Inhibiting this enzyme would kill bacteria without mechanism-based toxicity to humans. We screened classes of potential inhibitors and tested compounds in a 214 nm assay, finding IC50 values for the most potent inhibitors. We also tested select inhibitors in a thermal shift assay with Escherichia coli ArgE to determine the stability of the enzyme in the presence of inhibitors.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Daniel Becker, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Emma Kelley, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Inhibitors of the Bacterial Enzyme ArgE as Potential Novel Antibiotics
Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, and therefore there is an urgent need to discover novel antibiotics targeting alternate pathways. This project studies inhibitors of dizinc metalloenzyme acetylornithine deacetylase (ArgE), an enzyme found in the arginine biosynthesis pathway of bacteria. Inhibiting this enzyme would kill bacteria without mechanism-based toxicity to humans. We screened classes of potential inhibitors and tested compounds in a 214 nm assay, finding IC50 values for the most potent inhibitors. We also tested select inhibitors in a thermal shift assay with Escherichia coli ArgE to determine the stability of the enzyme in the presence of inhibitors.